We frequently hear from attorneys who believe there are specific legal keywords they need to focus on to succeed with search engine optimization (SEO) for their law firm’s website.
While keywords have their place in SEO, overvaluing keywords is unlikely to guide potential clients to your law firm’s website or encourage them to contact your firm. (And, if you’re engaging in practices such as keyword stuffing — which is prohibited by Google — it can make it even more challenging for potential clients to find you if the search engine relegates your site in search results.)
If you’re an attorney with downtime during the COVID-19 crisis, there’s no better time to learn the right way to drive more business to your law firm through your website and start executing a content-based plan that will benefit you now and in the future.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to write law firm website content that brings more visitors to your website and inspires potential clients to contact you.
To write better law firm website content, attorneys should focus on answering client questions instead of keywords.
Keywords are related to topics: they’re the connection between what your potential clients are looking for and the content that Google might return to that search user when they search for particular queries.
When your potential clients conduct searches, the words that they use to search are the vehicle that brings them closer to the answers to their questions. But they’re not just looking for a page that mirrors their input: They’re looking for answers.
Google’s business model relies on being able to return the best possible matches to any query — and that means being able to return the best and most educational content.
To create content that ranks well in search and also drive potential clients to your law firm’s website, focus on the needs of your potential clients, the language they use, and the type of information they’re looking for.
When you focus on answering the questions that your potential clients are likely to ask, the keywords related to any given subject tend to show up organically in the content that you create. When you write that content in the language that they understand, it tends to attract those potential clients who are doing related searches. And, when you focus on the kind of information that they’re looking for, it educates your potential clients and demonstrates that you care about your work and their problem.
This is why it makes sense to place your focus on creating content over keywords. When you focus on developing rich content for your potential clients, the other elements tend to fall into place.
Next, we’ll discuss the importance of creating high-quality content.
Focus your content on providing educational detail to your potential clients’ questions.
Many attorneys who are focused on keywords also focus on those keywords that have a high search volume. (Keywords and phrases like “DUI Attorney Atlanta,” or “Personal Injury Lawyer Colorado.”)
This belief is problematic for a few different reasons.
- It’s hard for attorneys to successfully compete for these kinds of basic keywords right out of the gate
- These keywords don’t usually represent the way that your potential clients search about their case or problem.
These keywords have a lot of competition, and they also have a low conversion rate. There’s also an assumption that potential clients search for attorneys this way.
The reality is that many potential clients start their journey by researching their case or matter online. Instead of searching for something like “Personal Injury Attorney Colorado,” a potential client may search for something like, “Who is at fault in a right-turn car accident in Boulder?”
This is why it’s crucial to create educational, detailed content around questions that your potential clients commonly ask. The higher the quality of the content that you create, the more likely it is to be served up by Google to a potential client who makes a related query.
So how is high-quality content different from any other kind of content? High-quality content not only addresses the questions that your potential clients ask, but it provides a superior level of detail and information to help your web visitor understand their case or problem and take action.
When you consider the questions that potential clients most commonly ask you and translate the answers to those questions into high-quality web content, you’re much more likely to see increased traffic to your law firm’s website and a better conversion rate.
To learn more about what goes into high-quality content on law firm websites, listen to our podcast episode: “Why Google Wants Law Firms to Focus on High-Quality Content.”
Create more law firm website content during your COVID-19 downtime.
If you’re finding that you have more downtime during the current state of affairs, it’s an excellent time to start creating and publishing content to your law firm’s website.
Even if you only dedicate twenty or thirty minutes a day to writing new content, every bit counts toward making connections with new potential clients. A piece that you write today will have benefits as soon as you publish it as well as benefit you in the future. You can post pieces as they’re ready or even keep a few pieces that are ready for publication after things resume a more normal pace.
Instead of focusing on competing for keywords, get into the mindset of your potential clients. Focus on helping your potential clients through this time by creating content that speaks to their needs. Address their fears and concerns, and help them understand more about their case or matter. The content that you publish now during this crisis will help you develop a strong foundation for your marketing now, and once the crisis has passed.
